L.A.'s New Maintenance Management System: Key to Survival in an Era of Tight Budgets
Even in the wake of budget-cutting Proposition 13, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District was able to cope with their maintenance needs. Their secret was a major overhaul in their...
CE Interview: John Hernandez
Since the Reagan administration took over the Environmental Protection Agency in 1981, there have been few decisions that have not stirred controversy. In this interview, Deputy Administrator...
The Infrastructure Problem and the Role of the Civil Engineer
It is civil engineers who design, build, and maintain the nation's infrastructure. Along with public works officials who manage the urban infrastructure, the civil engineer...
ASTM�Number One in Consensus Standards
The biggest of the private standards writing organizations, the American Society for Testing and Materials is profiled. Originally a writer of materials specifications, ASTM has grown...
The 1970s�ASCE Professional Activities
During the 1970s the Society had many impressive accomplishments, as documented by a multi-media presentation at the 1980 annual convention. Ten of these achievements are described, including...
Major Changes Ahead in the Nation's Water Cleanup Program
The federal budget squeeze is about to bring some sweeping changes in the nation's water clean-up program. The federal construction grants program will very likely be phased...
Probabilistic Methods in Structural Engineering
Papers are presented from a symposium on the application of probabilistic methods to structural engineering. The first of four sections deals with codes and specifications which are probability...
Cone Penetration Testing and Experience
Experiences and advances in cone penetration testing are reviewed in these papers presented in a technical session at the National Convention of the American Society of Civil Engineers....
Construction of Power Generation Facilities
The impact of the present construction practice, codes, standards and regulations on the construction of power generation facilities is reviewed and examined in papers presented at the...
Reducing Failures During Earthquakes
There are common building design and structural errors that result in unnecessary building failures during earthquakes. The failures are the result of design errors, changes and economies...
Ontario Writes New Bridge Code
In 1976, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and Communications decided to write its own bridge design code, breaking away from the AASHTO code, because: (1)It wanted a metric...
Non-Government Consensus Standards: Changes in the Wind�
Article clarifies the standards-writing climate in the U.S. today. Among key thrusts are: (1)The Federal Trade Commission just published a draft regulation that would significantly change...
Fledgling Standards-Writing Program: Progress Report
Officially reborn just over two years ago, ASCE's standards effort now includes more than a dozen standards-writing committees at work or now being formed. Focus is in four...
1977 Clean Air Act: Cheapest Way to Clean Up the Environment�
What impact is the Clean Air Act of 1977 having on American industry? Is the law the most cost effective way to clean up the nation's air? The power industry dislikes the...
Has Metrication Run Out of Gas�
The U.S. is the only major country not to have adopted the International System of Units (SI) as its official measurement system, but the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 established official...
Winter Roof Collapses: Bad Luck or Bad Design�
An overview of the collapses in 1978 and 1979 in Chicago and in the Northeast shows that, in most instances, the design codes are adequate. Designers, however, have not paid sufficient...
Intermediate Service Levels in Water Distribution
This paper is concerned with design standards for secondary water distribution networks. Based on field studies in the Middle East and Africa, mathematical equations were developed for...
$80,000 in Payoffs: An Engineer Tells His Story
A member of ASCE was told that if he wanted public work in a certain area, he would have to pay the County Engineer 25% of the project costs. The engineer decided to pay and has regretted...
Can California Cope With Its Mounting Sludge Volume�
In California, prohibition of ocean disposal of sludge, stringent air quality standards, high energy cost, and scarcity of suitable sanitary landfills make the sludge management problem...
Reinforced Concrete Research Council: Why So Successful�
At 30 years old the first-formed of ASCE's 14 research councils, the Reinforced Concrete Research Council is also one of the most successful. Some 40 RCRC research projects...
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